Monolith
by ChocolateTeapot
Summary: As these things go, one doesn't get much more clichéd than alien monoliths. Finding one is fascinating nonetheless. Zakharov-centric, Oneshot.


Zakharov hesitated before finally fastening his seatbelt. Hopefully they would reach the site before nightfall. They should have started earlier, but he only had himself to blame for the delay.

Sen had assured him that whatever they had found was absolutely amazing, but was unable to give an actual description and hadn't even taken any pictures, mumbling that he needed to see it himself. This was very odd indeed, the man was supposed to have been an army scout. Then again, Zakharov didn't have a high opinion of any military. He'd been in one for too long.

Given how vague it all was, he still wasn't quite sure why he was going. After all, it was a long journey and his health was failing him. Perhaps it was the rather desperate desire to be part of just one more really big discovery before he died. He shook his head. It was unlikely that they had found anything important, but his recent projects hadn't exactly been bathed in success either.

It was silly really, but he had made his decision and hoped to be pleasantly surprised. Besides, if they couldn't manage two days without him back at base (and there was always radio if his advice was needed desperately), what on Earth would they do when he finally bit the dust? He leaned back. Hopefully they'd stop using no longer accurate clichés like "what on Earth".

Sen switched on the scout rover's engine before turning around. "Everyone ready?" He paused for a moment before asking, "Any last minute toilet visits?"

"I'm fine," Azarpay said. As part of the original expedition, she'd also already seen whatever they were dragging him to. And she was every bit as infuriatingly vague as Sen. If the sum total of her geological expertise was "it's a really interesting rock", Zakharov just couldn't see how she'd secured a place on the mission as a mining expert. She didn't seem to have had a million vested interests backing her. Iran wasn't even a particularly powerful country.

"Unfortunately, you'll probably have to make plenty of stops for me regardless of whether I go now. But as I'm one-hundred and ten years old, even if I spent forty of them in stasis, I hope you understand."

Sen wrinkled his nose. Clearly he hadn't wanted to hear quite so much detail.

"You asked." What was the point of being in charge if you couldn't annoy people? Although there were limits. Zakharov nervously touched his pocket to check that he had remembered his medications. Thankfully, he had. Being stranded a day's journey away from base without them was an alarming thought. His colleagues wouldn't want to be stuck with him in that situation either. "Anyway, I'm ready."

He heard Azarpay mutter "Finally" under her breath, but chose not to comment on it.

They headed south-west. Zakharov looked out of the window and watched their base disappear in the distance. The first major bump just cemented his feeling that he should have stayed put. Rovers were designed for off-road travel, but a drive across four-hundred kilometres of wilderness was not a particularly pleasant prospect.

oOo

They arrived in the early evening and not a moment too soon, since it had been decided that driving in the dark was simply too dangerous after an accident three months ago. As Zakharov was in charge of the mission, he could have waived that rule, but he doubted that he could bear driving any further anyway. But it didn't matter, they were finally there. He adjusted his filter mask and stepped out of the rover. After taking a moment to stretch and bask in the orange glow of the setting sun, he looked around.

He immediately saw what he's been called there for. A monolith, about seven meters high, stood on a small hill. It looked like it could have been plucked from some ancient Egyptian ruins and dumped here. He could taste the disappointment as he broke into a slow clap. His lower back was hurting horribly. Had they dragged him all this way for a prank? "Hilarious."

"What do you mean?" Sen was pretending to be clueless, but wasn't doing a very good job.

Zakharov didn't look at him. "I suppose it's kind of funny. But couldn't this have been closer to our base? I'm an old man, it isn't fair to subject me to an all-day drive over trackless terrain for a joke."

"This isn't a joke."

Zakharov turned to Sen and yelled, "I'm not that stupid! I recognise a Kubrick reference when I see one! Although perhaps you don't. It doesn't look like the one from Space Odyssey. Wrong colour, wrong proportions, a pop-culture knock-off!" He paused to take a breath.

Sen took a step towards him. "Commander, I think-"

"I don't think you did." Zakharov turned away and walked towards the monolith, treading over the spongy xenofungus that grew around it. Even the small hill was quite difficult to climb, probably because he had ruined his musculoskeletal structure during the long time he spent in free-fall aboard the Unity, but his annoyance compelled him to do it anyway. "I bet this is the isolating foam that went missing last week. You can expect disciplinary-" He reached out and touched its edge.

Cold, smooth stone.

His eyes widened. They wouldn't have had the resources to put up something like this as a joke. This was real. After a moment of silence, he said, "Amazing. You're right. Thank you."

He removed his tinted glasses and put on his clear pair. Row after row of engravings covered the centre of the monolith. He ran his index finger along one line. Dust had settled in the inscriptions, but the edges were crisp. Unfortunately, it was already getting dark, he'd have to take another look in the morning.

On Earth, vast amounts of time had been spent searching for extraterrestrial life. All attempts had been fruitless, although it was felt that Chiron had good starting conditions. This theory had been shown to be correct when they had found the xenofungus a few days after landing. And now his team had stumbled across what almost certainly was proof that there had once been intelligent life here as well. Perhaps there still was, but if so, it had made no attempts to contact them. At least none that he was aware of.

What was this thing's purpose? Zakharov's first thought was that it might be a message. He laughed. It was an understandable impulse, as that would be a very human motivation. It was the secondary purpose of the Voyager probes for example, unlikely as they were to be found.

But space was almost empty, meaning that a small object was likely to last a long time. On the surface of a planet, particularly one with an atmosphere, a monolith was a truly terrible way to leave a message for people who might never come. It could be covered by rising oceans or a powerful sandstorm. Even if it wasn't buried, it would slowly be eroded by the winds and rain. If for some strange reason you wanted to use a rock to communicate, then Uluru was likely the minimum size. In short, this probably wasn't a message. Then again, plain stupidity ought not to be underestimated either. Just because these objections had occurred to him didn't mean that whoever built this had considered them.

None of this would be a concern if the messenger and the intended recipient weren't separated by vast expanses of time. There was no reason to think that whoever built this was hoping that some cosmic explorer would eventually stumble across it. In fact it would be more reasonable to assume that they had expected their peers to read it. However, this appeared to be a single rock in the middle of nowhere, so unless he was missing something, it still didn't seem like a great place to position important information.

Of course, it wasn't necessarily impossible that this was actually a natural formation. But there weren't any similar stones standing nearby and its crisp edges and the perfectly round hole at the top really did make it look like it was an artefact. In his youth, when people had claimed that a bunch of rocks proved the historicity of Noah's flood or that the eye was really evidence for a "designer", who often remained unspecified for legal reasons, he had laughed at them, although the Christian States made it seem a lot less funny in hindsight. He didn't want to make the same kind of mistake. But he wasn't stretching arguments past breaking point to support some pre-decided conclusion. He didn't bank on the wilful ignorance which was the backbone of their "reasoning". If the evidence changed, his mind would too. Zakharov made a mental note to ask some serious geologists to take a look, to verify that the chances this was natural truly were as minuscule as they appeared to him.

Perhaps he just wasn't imaginative or advanced enough to see its purpose, although its creators might think it was obvious. If a stone-age human had a look at his computer, they would surely find it every bit as baffling. It was important not to forget that whoever made this wasn't human. As such they might have had motivations that he could not even comprehend.

Maybe he was just looking at it from the wrong angle. It could have been a landmark or their idea of art. It was also possible that it served no actual function at all.

Or, he was slightly taken aback that this hadn't occurred to him sooner, it might be part of a larger structure, the rest buried under dirt and xenofungus. Maybe if they excavated the area, they would find something with a more obvious purpose.

There were many questions beyond the monolith's purpose as well. Was it a coincidence that the xenofungus seemed to cluster around it? And if not, why? Why was it standing exactly here? Were there more of these monoliths? Did whoever built this ever live on Chiron? Might they still inhabit the planet? If so, were they aware of the humans' presence? And those were just a few he could dream up immediately.

But perhaps nothing that they discovered about it would be nearly important as the fact that it had been discovered at all, as it was proof that there was other intelligent life in the cosmos. Even if they were rather clichéd.

Zakharov was pulled out of his reverie by Sen placing his hand on his shoulder. He said in a quiet voice, "Are you alright? After all, it's been a long journey and you..."

"I know I'm old. But I'm fine, don't worry." He must have been staring at the monolith for longer than he thought. It was already quite dark and getting cold.

He shook himself and walked back to the truck. Azarpay was already unloading the sleeping bags. Zakharov grimaced. Sleeping in the back of the car would really do his back in and having to wear an oxygen mask wouldn't make the experience more comfortable in the slightest. Still, this was totally worth it. He turned to Sen. "Any idea what it could be for?"

"I'm afraid not."

Zakharov shrugged. He hadn't really expected a brilliant answer. Sen was from the Unity's security force, which he had felt was surplus to requirements even before Santiago's rebellion. He certainly hadn't invited him into their escape pod, but he hadn't had the heart to throw anybody out. And Sen was actually quite useful. The same sort of thing could be said about Azarpay, although she was at least a mining expert, which would be quite a valuable skill once they started building them. Perhaps she could help with the excavations here.

If he wanted to brainstorm, the scientists back at base would be a better bet. They had tried to hush up the discovery in the film, but he'd tell everyone as soon as possible. Not only was keeping secrets antithetical to his philosophy, it didn't do them any good either. He'd talk with Fedorov now though and with Luttinen right after that. She always had great ideas, even if he still wasn't sure whether to believe the Algorithm story. But what would he say to them? Well, he'd manage something.

He pulled out his radio and promptly dropped it, cracking the casing. Hoping that the damage was only superficial, he tried to use it, but the crackling static suggested it was broken. Zakharov frowned. Wasn't stuff supposed to be sturdier nowadays? He was pretty certain that he'd be able to fix it, but decided to wait until the morning. The light would be better, he'd be less tired and he could be sure that this wasn't a dream.

oOo

Zakharov expected to wake up in agony, even more desperate for a painkiller than usual, but he actually felt better than he had in years. His back hurt, but not nearly as much as it should have, considering that he slept on the metal load-space with the barest excuse for a mattress.

He sat up and looked around. Sen and Azarpay were already up, no doubt inspecting the monolith. He slowly got to his feet, expecting his usual aches to return at any moment. They didn't, but he swallowed an aspirin anyway. There was no point in enduring even mild discomfort if it could be avoided and he doubted that the more serious pain would be gone for long. He reached for his tinted glasses, but stopped and put on his clear ones instead. Shouldering his kit, he clambered out of the rover.

Contrary to his expectations, his colleagues were actually having breakfast. After a quick glance at the monolith, he decided that it was not going to vanish in the next hour. He wished his colleagues a good morning and sat down next to them. His second inspection could wait until he'd had a drink and fixed the radio, although he realised that he probably just wanted to slightly delay the climb. He wished they had coffee, but had to make do with hot water.

After putting down his cup, he pulled the radio out of his bag. He frowned, puzzled. The crack was gone. Zakharov looked up. "You didn't have to lend me your radio, I'm pretty sure I can fix mine. We can swap back."

They exchanged glances. "Did you?" Azarpay asked while chewing on an energy bar.

"Nope," Sen said.

"Okay then." Zakharov wondered whether they had been offended by him thinking the monolith was a prank and were now trying to make him think he had Alzheimer's as revenge. Hopefully he wasn't really developing it. If he remembered correctly there had been a study linking cosmic radiation to an increased risk... He could deal with pain, incontinence and all of that, but losing his mind? Sure, the mad scientist persona had been too tempting not to play into, but he had no idea what he'd do if his mental facilities started slipping. He probably wouldn't be able to do anything, so it was best just to focus on the present and let this joke cost the prankster their radio.

Zakharov switched the radio on. Static. Was it broken after all and he had just imagined the crack in the twilight? He looked at the monolith again. They were camped about twenty meters away from it. Perhaps the radio had never been broken at all, but the monolith was jamming the signal. He pointed at it. "Do you know if this is a source of electromagnetic interference?" It would fit the genre these things usually appeared in.

Azarpay brushed some crumbs off her shirt. Eating and drinking were pretty difficult while wearing a breather. "No, but it should be easy enough to test."

"Yes, it should be." Zakharov stood up and walked a further hundred meters away from the monolith before trying to contact base again.

After about half a minute, Dr Hassan answered, "Is that you, Dr Zakharov?"

"It is, but never mind that, what the crew have found here is absolutely unbelievable." He paused for a second. This was the dramatic moment. "Evidence that we might not be the only intelligent life in the universe!" He could understand why they hadn't simply told him what they'd found. It sounded very unlikely.

"Considering what we did to Earth, you mean evidence that there's intelligent life at all."

"Don't be like that. Isn't this exciting?"

"I suppose so." He didn't sound like it. Well, the Unity disaster had left him very depressed.

Zakharov could sympathise, but he wanted to talk with someone who would share his amazement. "Is Fedorov around?"

"He's asleep, but I can wake him."

Part of him desperately wanted to wake Fedorov, but he knew that his friend wouldn't appreciate it, no matter how world shaking the events were. "Let him lie. What about Luttinen?" She wouldn't be enthusiastic, but talking with her was always interesting.

"Who's that again?"

Of course, most people wouldn't know her by her old name. "She calls herself Aki Zeta-Five now." Come to think of it, he ought to get used to her new name too. She'd been using it for about four years after all.

"Oh, her. She's out doing surveying work, but she ought to be back soon. I can try to contact her if it's absolutely necessary."

"No need. But tell everyone who might be interested that we've found what looks like an alien monolith, as silly as it sounds, okay? In particular, I'd like some geologists to inspect it, so see who wants to do that. Probably all of them, so we'll do a selection when I get back."

"Fine by me."

"That's all I have to say then. Zakharov out."

"Hassan out."

Zakharov switched off the radio. He walked to the camp and put it back in his bag, feeling very pleased that it was functioning again. Perhaps the monolith was a base station for its builders' wireless communication network? "It definitely works better over there." Not waiting for a reply, he dug out his camera and walked up to the monolith. To his pleasant surprise, the hill hardly proved an obstacle this time.

The engravings were clearer in the morning light. They seemed less abstract now, more like pictographs and some of them seemed to represent... Humans? Perhaps he was anthropomorphising, seeing a head, a torso, two arms and legs in the symbols.

It occurred to him that this might be a message after all, one intended specifically for humanity. If aliens watched movies, they might have decided that were humans to search for alien architecture, they'd be looking for monoliths. If so, what was the message supposed to be? He couldn't make any sense out of the symbols, but maybe he needed to see them as a whole. Perhaps the jamming signal held the key.

But why not put it closer to, or even on, Earth? It would seem a more sensible place. Did they think that humanity would dismiss it as a hoax or did they believe that Earth wouldn't be inhabited for much longer? Perhaps the Alpha Centauri system was simply a more convenient place to put it. Of course, it was quite possible that there were plenty of overlooked ones like this back home. Did they put the monolith on Chiron because it was an inhabitable planet near Earth or did they know that humans were coming? And if they did know, were they still nearby, waiting?

Zakharov smiled. There were so many questions and every answer they found was certain to reveal new ones. This was the beginning of something great, whether he lived to see it or not.

THE END


End file.
